Syndicate

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (Nov. 8, 2008) — Chocolate Candy, ridden perfectly by Garrett Gomez, charged to the lead inside the sixteenth pole and went on to a one-length victory in Saturday’s $100,000 Real Quiet Stakes at Hollywood Park.

The bay son of Candy Ride covered 1 1/16 miles on Cushion Track in a stakes record time of 1:42.25 while paying $15.60, $6.80 and $3.80 as the fourth choice in the field of seven 2-year-olds. The upset helped set up a Pick Six carryover of $112,486 when racing resumes Sunday.

J P Jammer, who held on gamely under Aaron Gryder after setting the pace, returned $4.40 and $2.60. Favorite Charlie’s Moment, who challenged J P Jammer turning for home, never got by him and settled for third, paying, $2.20 under Joel Rosario.

"I was okay with the pace early on in the race, but then they slowed it down a little bit more than my liking,” Gomez said. “My horse was traveling well and Joel (Rosario) had his hands full and kept trying to use the horse in front of him for cover. As he tried to cover his horse up, I tried to zoom around him real fast. I didn't really want to zoom around him and the reaction I got from him — I made him push his horse out a little bit and get his horse up on the bridle — and kind of sent him on his way. Then I was able to drop right back in behind him and travel well the rest of the trip."

Chocolate Candy, a homebred owned by the Craig Family Trust, needed four starts to break his maiden, but he has now won two straight to improve his record to two-for-five. The $60,000 winner’s share boosted his earnings to $99,000.

Trained by Jerry Hollendorfer, Chocolate Candy showed his promise when finishing second in his third start while running around two turns for the first time. Saturday’s effort established him as a serious threat for the $750,000 CashCall Futurity here Dec. 20. Colonel John won the Real Quiet Stakes a year ago, had to settle for second to Into Mischief in the Futurity, but went on to win the 2008 Santa Anita Derby and Travers Stakes.

“First of all, I’m really happy to win this race,” Hollendorfer said. “This colt’s been coming along real good all year long and we’ve had a lot of confidence in him. He ran a really good race today. When the seven (Charlie’s Moment) moved, our horse rated back off the pace and came running. I think that shows a lot about this horse’s ability. It took him a while to figure things out, but now that he’s routing I think he’s doing very well.”

Jockey Quotes

GARRETT GOMEZ, CHOCOLATE CANDY, Winner: "I was okay with the pace early on in the race, but then they slowed it down a little bit more than my liking. My horse was traveling well and Joel (Rosario on Charlie's Moment) had his hands full and kept trying to use the horse in front of him for cover. As he tried to cover his horse up, I tried to zoom around him real fast. I didn't really want to zoom around him, and the reaction I got from him, I made him push his horse out a little bit and get his horse up on the bridle and kind of sent him on his way. Then I was able to drop right back in behind him and travel well the rest of the trip."

AARON GRYDER, J P JAMMER, Second: "We were getting a pretty comfortable pace and I kind of expected someone to press me at some point, but I didn't think it would be that early. He ran great, he handled everything well and finished up nice."

JOEL ROSARIO, CHARLIE'S MOMENT, Third: "I had to move sooner than I wanted because the number four (Chocolate Candy) came up to me down the backstretch. I had to let him go because I would have lost all position."

Trainer Quotes

JERRY HOLLENDORFER, CHOCOLATE CANDY, Winner: “First of all, I’m really happy to win this race. This colt’s been coming along real good all year long and we’ve had a lot of confidence in him. He ran a really good race today. When the seven (Charlie’s Moment) moved our horse was still ratable and we rated back off the pace and came running. I think that shows a lot about this horse’s ability. It took him a while to figure things out but now that he’s routing I think he’s doing very well. We’ll be shooting for the Hollywood Futurity. I did nominate him to that race in Louisiana (Delta Jackpot Stakes at Delta Downs), so I guess we’ll take a look at that too. “

NOTES: Chocolate Candy set a stakes record of 1:42.25, lowering the mark of 1:42.92 established by Colonel John in 2007.